Due to their location in the arid West, many Paiute bands were involved in water rights disputes throughout the twentieth century. For example, the Owens Valley Paiutes struggled to obtain enough water from the Owens River, a primary water source for the city of Los Angeles, to operate a fishery. The Paiutes of the Pyramid Lake suffered when the United States built Derby Dam as part of the Newlands Project in 1905 on the Truckee River, the primary water source for Pyramid Lake. The dam diverted almost half the river flow to a separate valley, the Carson Basin. As a result, the Pyramid Lake level dropped 78 feet by 1967, depriving cui-ui trout access to upstream spawning beds and significantly impacting tribal fisheries and waterfowl habitat on the Pyramid Lake Reservation. The cui-ui, which are central to Pyramid Lake Paiute identity, were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1967. This helped the Paiutes regain control over their lake and fisheries. Similar water diversion plans by upstream non-Indian users severely degraded Walker River Reservation resources as well. Litigation over water rights persisted throughout much of the twentieth century with frequently unsuccessful results for the Paiutes.
Read more: Paiutes - History, Modern era, Settlement patterns, Acculturation and assimilation, Traditions, customs, and beliefs, Cuisine http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Le-Pa/Paiutes.html#ixzz0Y5xHG4TK
This just mainly talkes about there struggle with the Drought and fish.